from trips to Shevchenko places

On Friday, President Viktor Yanukovych fired the chairman of the Cherkasy regional state administration, Alexander Cherevko. The reason for this was the unsatisfactory condition of the Shevchenko National Reserve in Kanev (Cherkasy region). For the same reason, the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mikhail Kulynyak fired the general director of the reserve, Maryan Pinyak. The displaced managers claim that problems at the site are caused by underfunding of reconstruction work.

President Viktor Yanukovych signed a decree on the dismissal of the Chairman of the Cherkasy Regional State Administration (CSA) Alexander Cherevko on Friday. As noted in the message on the official website of the head of state, the reason for the dismissal was the extremely unsatisfactory state of affairs in the Cherkasy region, in particular in the Shevchenko National Reserve in Kaniv. “The negligence, irresponsibility and indifference towards the national shrine, which is the Kobzar memorial, amazed the president,” the message says.

Let us remind you that Mr. Yanukovych visited the reserve on March 9, on the 196th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko. Reconstruction has been going on there for the seventh year, so in the hall - the most finished room of the museum - electric cables were still hanging from the ceiling, and the floor was covered with fiberboard sheets (see Kommersant of March 10).

The body of Taras Shevchenko, who died in St. Petersburg on March 10, 1861, was reburied on May 22, 1861 on Chernecha (Tarasova) Mountain near Kanev. In 1925, a reserve was created here, which received national status in 1993. On August 1, 2001, by decree of President Leonid Kuchma, a program for the reconstruction of the memorial was approved. At the same time, the amount required for this was determined (UAH 15 million) and a completion date was set (2006). Reconstruction of the reserve began in 2004. According to the Cherkasy Regional State Administration, by the beginning of 2010 the facility was 60% ready.

Mr. Cherevko does not agree with the reasons for his dismissal. At a press conference last Saturday, he said that until 2008, the reconstruction of the Taras Shevchenko Museum was carried out by the Ministry of Culture, and the Cherkasy Regional State Administration had nothing to do with this work. “But I’m even glad about this dismissal. By and large, you can suffer for the revival of Taras Shevchenko’s legacy,” he concluded.

The ex-governor was supported by the mayor of Cherkasy Sergei Odarych. “Alexander Cherevko has done tens of times more for the reserve than any of his predecessors. And if the state allocates 30 million UAH allocated in 2009 for the reconstruction of the reserve in the last days of December, then even the most golden governor will not have time to use these funds,” explained Kommersant Mr. Odarych.

Alexander Cherevko is not the only one who suffered due to delays in repairing the memorial. On Friday, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mikhail Kulynyak fired the general director of the reserve, Marjan Pinyak. Yesterday Mr. Pinyak said that he was shocked by this decision. “During the five years that I headed the reserve, I did not receive a single disciplinary sanction - only bonuses, certificates and diplomas,” Mr. Pinyak told Kommersant. According to him, the delay in reconstruction was caused by rising costs caused, in particular, by rising prices for energy resources and materials.

Alexander Zvorsky, Denis Popovich

Viktor Yanukovych retained his impressions